Jerusalem is undeniably the capital of a Jewish State—and much more

National Post, 6 December 2017

The recognition by the United States of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel strikes me as both defensible and anticlimactic

It is a remarkable blessing that almost every year I am able to visit Jerusalem, the world’s spiritual capital and the mother church of all Christians. Usually I am accompanying pilgrims to the holy places where Christians mark the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Do I feel that I am visiting the capital of Israel when I am there? My thoughts about Jerusalem are primarily biblical rather than in terms of the nation-state. Consequently, I think about Jerusalem as the national and spiritual home of the Jewish people, toward which biblical history has looked since Abraham. It was there that King David ruled over the united kingdom three millennia ago, and that King Solomon built the temple, the house of prayer for all peoples.

Should Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of the modern state of Israel, as President Donald Trump did today? I believe that there should be a modern state of Israel. I believe that it should be in Zion, in the biblical Land of Israel, with proper recognition of other peoples who live there. I believe that its capital is obviously Jerusalem. That is what Israel declares its capital to be, and generally we recognize the capitals that nation-states choose for themselves.